Speaker 1: School of Humans. Hello, beautiful filth heads, literally the most
Speaker 1: attractive people who have ever existed. So we're doing a
Speaker 1: repeat episode today, doing her little rerun because I was
Speaker 1: writing the episode for this week and then I went
Speaker 1: back and did some fact checking and.
Speaker 2: Found that there were several errors that then I didn't
Speaker 2: have the time to completely fix. Whoopsies.
Speaker 1: But look at that me being a fact checking I'm
Speaker 1: a journalist, a history journalist indeed.
Speaker 2: But this episode is one of my favorites.
Speaker 1: And I also, as you guys all know since you
Speaker 1: know everything about me, is I also do stand up
Speaker 1: and so I've actually been doing a bit about this
Speaker 1: episode because this is the one about Abraham Lincoln maybe
Speaker 1: being gay. Gabraham Lincoln, Everyone's favorite subject. And this was
Speaker 1: part of a series that I did called Bedfellows Headfellows,
Speaker 1: and where I was like, look at all these various
Speaker 1: people who might have been gay in the past, isn't
Speaker 1: that exciting, And then just really got into outing historical
Speaker 1: figures for a while. But I have been doing the
Speaker 1: stand up bit about this and the joke. You might
Speaker 1: have already heard it on Instagram, which, of course you
Speaker 1: can follow the pod at American Filth pod. But the
Speaker 1: dirty joke I've been doing about Abraham Lincoln being gay is,
Speaker 1: do you guys think when Abraham Lincoln was banging dudes,
Speaker 1: he was wearing his top hat and the guys he
Speaker 1: was banging were wearing bottom hats. So I just wanted
Speaker 1: to share it that with you to have a special
Speaker 1: little treat. But I hope you guys enjoyed the episode.
Speaker 1: We'll be back next week with original content, brand spanking
Speaker 1: news stuff about history. In the meantime, enjoy Abraham Lincoln
Speaker 1: getting down and dirty with some dudes. Cue the theme song,
Speaker 1: wamp wam blamp, wham blamp, blam blamp wam blam. This
Speaker 1: is American philth that. I'm Gabby Watts. Every week I
Speaker 1: tell you a filed the story from American history, and
Speaker 1: this week we got Bedfellows Headfellows, Part two.
Speaker 2: They were just roommates.
Speaker 1: Do do do Do Do Do Do do do do? Okay, Okay.
Speaker 1: I can hear some of you from across the pod.
Speaker 1: I can see I hear what you're saying. Some of
Speaker 1: you are shouting. There's literally no evidence that Abraham Lincoln
Speaker 1: did homosexual heavy petting.
Speaker 2: I get it.
Speaker 1: I will acknowledge that many historians have said there is
Speaker 1: absolutely no way that that happened. The sort of Lincoln
Speaker 1: historical establishment is like, no, that's just wild, wild conjecture
Speaker 1: and just you making assumptions about people you don't.
Speaker 2: Know what's up.
Speaker 1: For example, the one historian was like, some irresponsible authors
Speaker 1: have suggested that Abraham Lincoln was a homosexual. There is
Speaker 1: no evidence for this claim. But the irresponsible author that
Speaker 1: that historian was referring to is probably this guy named c. A.
Speaker 2: Trip.
Speaker 1: He was a writer and a psychologist who studied under
Speaker 1: Alfred Kinsey, you know, the sex psychologist, the Kinsey Scale, etc.
Speaker 1: And Trip worked under him, and he spent most of
Speaker 1: the nineteen seventies being like, hey, I don't think being
Speaker 1: gay is a personality disorder. Trip himself was a gay man.
Speaker 1: He's like, I'm fine, there's nothing wrong with me. But
Speaker 1: he wrote a book that came out in two thousand
Speaker 1: and five called The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln. And
Speaker 1: that's where he summarized his years of research on proving
Speaker 1: that yes, in fact, our log cabin depressed six or
Speaker 1: for President was in fact a little bit gay.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Basically, what he's saying Is that the night John Wilkes
Speaker 1: Booth shot Abraham Lincoln in the head. That wasn't the
Speaker 1: first time Lincoln had his brains blown out. Yeah, that's
Speaker 1: a terrible oral sex joke. I'm sorry. Am I canceled now?
Speaker 2: I hope? So I'm tired.
Speaker 1: I want to go live with my mom.
Speaker 2: Hi, Hi, Mom? How are you? I'm good. It sounds
Speaker 2: like your weekend was fun. Oh yeah, it was a
Speaker 2: good time. Uh.
Speaker 1: So, I just made a really horrendous joke on my podcast, Mom,
Speaker 1: and I was just wondering if I get canceled, Is
Speaker 1: it okay if I come and.
Speaker 2: Live with you? Well, as long as you don't tell
Speaker 2: anybody that I live with you?
Speaker 1: Yes?
Speaker 2: What is I embarrassing for you or embarrassing for me? No,
Speaker 2: it's I was being funny. I thought you were recording me.
Speaker 2: I am recording you.
Speaker 1: Mom. Okay, we're just gonna see what works for the podcast.
Speaker 2: Oh well, what would work for the podcast? I would say,
Speaker 2: But of course, honey.
Speaker 1: Well you can say that, or you could also say, no,
Speaker 1: don't get canceled.
Speaker 2: Gabby, don't get canceled. Yeah, that felt really authentic. Okay,
Speaker 2: but if you do, of course you can come live
Speaker 2: with me. Okay, thanks, Mom, you can pick any of those. Okay.
Speaker 1: So the bit didn't really work. So I need to
Speaker 1: get an actor to be my mom. But that might
Speaker 1: be in the next episode. But anyway, back to the
Speaker 1: subject matter at hand.
Speaker 2: Job. So, before C. A.
Speaker 1: Trip had published that book about Lincoln sexuality in two
Speaker 1: thousand and five, he had actually already written a bunch
Speaker 1: of stuff about Lincoln maybe being gay, which really riled
Speaker 1: the feathers of the Lincoln historical establishment, who were like,
Speaker 1: this is poppy cock. Lincoln's cock never popped for the boys.
Speaker 1: But once this argument was brought to the greater public,
Speaker 1: unfortunately Tripp was not there to argue it because he
Speaker 1: died two weeks after finishing this book. Now, what evidence
Speaker 1: do we have that would say that would point to
Speaker 1: that might suggest that Abraham Lincoln was a homosexual. Let's
Speaker 1: take a look at some hot takes in the Gabraham
Speaker 1: Lincoln conspiracy. This first one is just something I thought
Speaker 1: about as a member of the LGBTQ community myself. Let
Speaker 1: me tell you, gay people love to rhyme and then
Speaker 1: think about it. What did Abraham Lincoln do the Emancipation Proclamation?
Speaker 2: Gay also great, but gay. But here's to Trip's.
Speaker 1: More rigorous evidence. And by more rigorous, I mean kind of.
Speaker 1: I think if you read his book, you'll see that
Speaker 1: he's applying a lot of psychological ideas to the past.
Speaker 1: And it's like, yeah, I don't know if it works
Speaker 1: like that. I think you're just making some assumptions. But
Speaker 1: let me tell you the speculation, the conjecture. It is
Speaker 1: so much more exciting to think about than what most
Speaker 1: people say about Abraham Lincoln based on facts and letters
Speaker 1: and blah blah blah.
Speaker 2: Who cares.
Speaker 1: Let's look at human behavior and analyze it in the past.
Speaker 1: This is actually one of my favorite types of history
Speaker 1: because it really is a big part of history is
Speaker 1: that people will go back in time and.
Speaker 2: Be like, who's gay, Let's figure out it out.
Speaker 1: It's this type of history I like to call gay
Speaker 1: or nay. So one thing that Trip points to is
Speaker 1: that when Abraham Lincoln was a much younger man, he
Speaker 1: had written some satirical poetry in a manuscript he called
Speaker 1: the Chronicles of Ruben. That's right, again, he's doing poetry,
Speaker 1: and again that's rhyming, and that's usually gay. But within
Speaker 1: the Chronicles of Ruben, Lincoln actually refers to homosexuality.
Speaker 2: He wrote, for Ruben.
Speaker 1: And Charles have married two girls, but Billy has married
Speaker 1: a boy. The girls he had tried on every side,
Speaker 1: but none he could get to agree.
Speaker 2: All was in vain.
Speaker 1: He went home again, and since that he's married to Natty,
Speaker 1: look at that Billy and Natty. I send them my
Speaker 1: best nuptial regards. And the reason Trip included this in
Speaker 1: his book was that he was like, hey, this proves
Speaker 1: that even when Lincoln was younger, he had an awareness
Speaker 1: that homosexual people existed. But also trips like how did
Speaker 1: he know that they existed? Like why would that occur
Speaker 1: to him? Maybe it's because he himself was having some
Speaker 1: gay thoughts and he liked the idea of two men
Speaker 1: getting married. Also, Trip points to this quote from Lincoln's stepmom,
Speaker 1: who said at some point that when he was younger,
Speaker 1: Lincoln was not very fond of girls, and then when
Speaker 1: he got older, Lincoln had a pretty hard time talking
Speaker 1: to women.
Speaker 2: He wasn't a good flirt.
Speaker 1: So, I mean, we could also just read the poem
Speaker 1: as he just really loves hanging out with the boys
Speaker 1: because he doesn't know what to do with the goals
Speaker 1: but Trip's like, no, he's gay. Some other historians have
Speaker 1: also kind of echoed this idea, where they've said things like, oh,
Speaker 1: Lincoln in general seemed pretty ambivalent about marrying Mary Todd,
Speaker 1: like their courtship was really painful, and like it was
Speaker 1: a real will they won't they situation. Lincoln actually called
Speaker 1: off the engagement and then had this huge mental breakdown,
Speaker 1: and you know, we don't know exactly why he did that,
Speaker 1: but you know, Trip, he's coming back in being like, hey,
Speaker 1: maybe the reason he called it off is because he's gay.
Speaker 1: And Trip's also like, yeah, Lincoln was depressed all the time,
Speaker 1: he had all these bouts of depression. Maybe the reason
Speaker 1: he was so depressed was because he was gay. And
Speaker 1: let's just say, the eighteen forties not the best time
Speaker 1: to be gay.
Speaker 2: So yeah. Throughout his book, Trip sort of.
Speaker 1: Points to these random little moments where he's.
Speaker 2: Like, hmm, that's suspicious. That's suspicious.
Speaker 1: But the main evidence that he relied on for this
Speaker 1: book was that Lincoln had very close friendships with men,
Speaker 1: and Trip says, Hmmm, they might have been a little
Speaker 1: too close, because here's the tea.
Speaker 2: I've said it many.
Speaker 1: Times already, but back in the day, men were sharing beds,
Speaker 1: so that was normal. But what was abnormal was sharing
Speaker 1: a bed with a man for an extended period of time.
Speaker 2: And Lincoln, well, he.
Speaker 1: Shared a bed with his best friend, Joshua Speed. Not
Speaker 1: for a night, not for a week, but for four years.
Speaker 1: We'll be right back after these soothing advertisements. When Abraham
Speaker 1: Lincoln was twenty eight and eighteen thirty seven, he moved
Speaker 1: to Springfield, Illinois, and that's where he met twenty three
Speaker 1: year old Joshua Speed. The reason Lincoln moved there was
Speaker 1: to pursue his studies in a career as a lawyer.
Speaker 1: He had recently failed as a store owner and was
Speaker 1: in a bunch of debt. You know, he grew up
Speaker 1: poor in that log cabin and hardly had a penny
Speaker 1: to his name. I mean he didn't know it at
Speaker 1: the time, but soon every single penny would just have
Speaker 1: his name on it.
Speaker 2: I mean, at least his face, I guess.
Speaker 1: So anyway, Lincoln got on a borrowed horse headed to Springfield,
Speaker 1: ready to try to make something of himself. Joshua Speed,
Speaker 1: on the other hand, came from a rich family in
Speaker 1: Kentucky and was a bona fide gentleman, and at that
Speaker 1: time Speed was also trying to make something of himself.
Speaker 1: He was the owner of a general store in Springfield,
Speaker 1: and Lincoln walked in one day looking for betting. He
Speaker 1: was like, how much are the furnishings for a single bed?
Speaker 1: And Speed looked up the price of the mattress, the blankets,
Speaker 1: the sheets. He was like, it's going to be about
Speaker 1: seventeen dollars, and oh boy, was Lincoln unable.
Speaker 2: To pay that. Speed wrote about this encounter many times,
Speaker 2: and here's what he said.
Speaker 1: Lincoln said that that was pretty cheap enough, but small
Speaker 1: as the sum was, he was unable to pay it.
Speaker 1: But if I would credit him till Christmas and his
Speaker 1: experiment as a lawyer was a success, he would pay, then,
Speaker 1: saying in the saddest tone, if I fail in this,
Speaker 1: I do not know that I can ever pay you.
Speaker 1: I looked up, and I think now that I had
Speaker 1: never seen a sadder face. I said to him, you
Speaker 1: seem to be so pained at contracting so small a debt.
Speaker 1: I think I can suggest a plan by which you
Speaker 1: can avoid the debt.
Speaker 2: And at the same time attain your end.
Speaker 1: I have a large room with a double bed, upstairs,
Speaker 1: which you are very welcome to share with me.
Speaker 2: Where is your room, said he? Upstairs, said I.
Speaker 1: Pointing to a pair of winding stairs which led from
Speaker 1: the store to my room. Lincoln took his saddle bags
Speaker 1: in his arm, went upstairs and set them down on
Speaker 1: the floor, and came down with the most changed countenance,
Speaker 1: beaming with pleasure. He exclaimed, Well, Speed, I am moved.
Speaker 1: Doesn't this sound like the beginning of a porno? Poor young,
Speaker 1: ambitious man wants to be lawyer but can't afford a room,
Speaker 1: so sexy rich store clerk suggest his own bed. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's not the most fluid of titles, but don't worry.
Speaker 2: In the porno there will be a lot of fluid.
Speaker 1: So yeah, Speed often told this version of the story
Speaker 1: of how the two met, But trip Our our historian psychologist,
Speaker 1: He's like, when I read this, I don't think it
Speaker 1: actually happened like that, because apparently Speed was already aware
Speaker 1: of Abraham Lincoln, because he had seen him the previous
Speaker 1: summer in eighteen thirty six, when Lincoln had given a
Speaker 1: speech and had basically roasted one of his opponents very well,
Speaker 1: you know, so that's sus Like, why didn't speed mention
Speaker 1: to Abraham Lincoln that he had seen him before. Trip's like,
Speaker 1: I mean, it's probably because he desired Lincoln and thought
Speaker 1: he would be a great bedfellow, so he was like, yes, Lincoln,
Speaker 1: come into my bed.
Speaker 2: That's fine.
Speaker 1: And as for the whole story of Lincoln going up
Speaker 1: to the room by himself and putting his saddle bags down,
Speaker 1: Trip was like, no one.
Speaker 2: Would do that.
Speaker 1: Speed would have shown him the room and then they
Speaker 1: would have looked at the bed, and then they might
Speaker 1: have looked at each other and been like, hmmm, I
Speaker 1: guess we can sleep in this bud together, with like
Speaker 1: a sexual implication. Trip also said that Speed's invitation for
Speaker 1: Lincoln to stay it didn't have any of the usual
Speaker 1: qualifiers that you would have, like, oh, yeah, you could
Speaker 1: stay for a few days or until you get settled. Instead,
Speaker 1: it was just immediately like, yeah, come live with me
Speaker 1: and sleep in my bed.
Speaker 2: My dude.
Speaker 1: Trip was like, who the heck would just invite a
Speaker 1: random guy to sleep in their bed for an unlimited
Speaker 1: amount of time unless they were trying to bone And
Speaker 1: then Trip also makes this other point. He's like, well, honestly,
Speaker 1: that bed they slept in was pretty small, and Abraham
Speaker 1: Winkin was pretty big, so skin to skin contact.
Speaker 2: Would have been inevitable.
Speaker 1: And you know, once you touch skin, you might as
Speaker 1: well touch other skins for skins.
Speaker 2: That's what I'm saying. Maybe they were circumcised. I don't know.
Speaker 2: Someone probably does know. If you do, pervert.
Speaker 1: And again I will say that the Abraham Lincoln historical establishment,
Speaker 1: they're like, no, they weren't boning. They were just boys
Speaker 1: in the bed. They're just good friends. But there's this
Speaker 1: other historian, Thomas A. Foster, and he does a lot
Speaker 1: of work on the history of sexuality in America.
Speaker 2: What he says about Speed and Lincoln sharing.
Speaker 1: A bed and becoming close friends, he said, without a doubt,
Speaker 1: given the cultural acceptance of close bonds between members of
Speaker 1: the same sex, individuals had the opportunity for private physical
Speaker 1: intimacy because their public bond would not have raised much concern.
Speaker 1: That's right, He's saying if they wanted to fuck, they could.
Speaker 1: And Speed himself said at one point about their friendship
Speaker 1: that no men were ever so intimate. Like does he
Speaker 1: just mean BFFs for life or does he mean I've
Speaker 1: been intimate because I've been up in those guts. So
Speaker 1: after they became bedfellows and became friends and maybe headfellows
Speaker 1: as well. Speed was the one who helped Lincoln get
Speaker 1: involved with socializing and society and stuff like that. They
Speaker 1: ran a discussion group called the young Men's Lyceum. This
Speaker 1: was in the back of the store, and they gathered
Speaker 1: a bunch of other men and they would talk about
Speaker 1: ideas and stuff. And then Speed also taught Lincoln how
Speaker 1: to flirt with women, because Speed he was very good
Speaker 1: at flirting. In fact, later on Mary Todd Lincoln called
Speaker 1: Speed one of the birds of passage. She said of
Speaker 1: him he had an ever changing heart, basically calling him
Speaker 1: a little slut. But yeah, Mary Todd was one of
Speaker 1: those ladies who Speed helped Lincoln flirt with, and her
Speaker 1: and Lincoln's relationship was very frustrating for her. Lincoln was
Speaker 1: sending a bunch of mixed messages.
Speaker 2: It was rocky.
Speaker 1: But anyway, after all this socializing, Lincoln and Speed were
Speaker 1: still sharing a bed. And remember they shared a bed
Speaker 1: for four years. But when their bedfellowing came to an end,
Speaker 1: that's when Lincoln started unraveling. Speed moved back to Kentucky
Speaker 1: in early eighteen forty one, and then Lincoln called off
Speaker 1: his engagement with Mary Todd. Are these two things related,
Speaker 1: I don't know, But what we know is that Lincoln
Speaker 1: was very distraught, so Speed invited him to come, say,
Speaker 1: with his family in Kentucky. Meanwhile, while Speed had been
Speaker 1: in Kentucky already, he had started courting this woman named
Speaker 1: Fanny Henning, and he was like, Hey, Lincoln, I need
Speaker 1: you to meet this lady so that you can see
Speaker 1: if it would be a good idea to like court
Speaker 1: her and then like maybe marry her. It seems that
Speaker 1: Lincoln was like, yeah, she's a good person.
Speaker 2: I guess because Speed.
Speaker 1: And Hinting got engaged, and apparently Lincoln had a great
Speaker 1: time in Kentucky and it helped him get back on
Speaker 1: his feed after all of his mental health problems. Then
Speaker 1: at the end of Lincoln's stay, he and Speed didn't part.
Speaker 1: What happened is that Speed apparently had like the flu
Speaker 1: or something, but he was still determined to go on
Speaker 1: this boat trip with Lincoln. You know, just two dudes
Speaker 1: out there fishing. Nothing gay has ever happened in that situation.
Speaker 1: And then after they did that trip, then Speed went
Speaker 1: back to Springfield with Lincoln and they rented a room
Speaker 1: together and then Speed just stayed there for months, even
Speaker 1: though his betrothed was in Kentucky. Speed left Springfield for
Speaker 1: the second time in January eighteen forty two because he had.
Speaker 2: To go and get married.
Speaker 1: Now, some historians are like, well, maybe Speed went to
Speaker 1: go hang out with Lincoln because he was really anxious
Speaker 1: about getting married. You know, he was nervous, he needed
Speaker 1: a friend.
Speaker 2: But still it's.
Speaker 1: Suspicious staying in the same room together for months right
Speaker 1: before Speed was getting married. Sus sus usparun pawn now
Speaker 1: Speed and Lincoln, they sent a lot of letters back
Speaker 1: and forth. So of course people have perused those letters,
Speaker 1: and some of them are quite interesting for this topic
Speaker 1: we are speaking about, because when you look at the
Speaker 1: tone of how Lincoln writes, it's filled with like yearning
Speaker 1: and insecurity, and it just feels very emotional, very sensual
Speaker 1: in a way. For example, there's one letter dated February thirteenth,
Speaker 1: eighteen forty two, and Lincoln wrote this to Speed just
Speaker 1: a few days after Speed had gotten married to Fanny Hinning.
Speaker 1: And in that letter he says, quote, you know, my
Speaker 1: desire to befriend you is everlasting, that I will never
Speaker 1: cease while I know how to do anything I do. Finally,
Speaker 1: hope that you will never again need any comfort from abroad.
Speaker 1: Comfort from abroad? You say, what kind of comfort? But
Speaker 1: it does seem that Speed and Lincoln had discussed at
Speaker 1: some point that they were both nervous about having sex
Speaker 1: with women. They're like, we don't know how to do it.
Speaker 1: I'm nervous that it's not gonna work.
Speaker 2: What do you do?
Speaker 1: So even if they aren't gay, they might have spent
Speaker 1: those many months together at the end of eighteen forty
Speaker 1: one just trying to figure out how to bang a
Speaker 1: woman that in fact is not very gay. That is
Speaker 1: not very gay of them at all. At the end
Speaker 1: of the letter, Abraham Lincoln says something that's pretty sus
Speaker 1: I would desire you to give my particular respects to Fanny,
Speaker 1: but perhaps you will not wish her to know you
Speaker 1: have received this, lest she should desire to see it.
Speaker 1: Write me whenever you have leisure yours forever A Lincoln ps.
Speaker 1: I have been quite a man since you left. Okay,
Speaker 1: because this is suspicious because he's like, hey, maybe don't
Speaker 1: let Fanny read this letter, and.
Speaker 2: So like, why would it be bad for Fanny to
Speaker 2: read this letter.
Speaker 1: What is it is the comfort talking about boning? Did
Speaker 1: she have suspicions about them having a relationship that was
Speaker 1: more than just BFFs? Or you know, you can do
Speaker 1: the other route too, being like maybe he doesn't want
Speaker 1: his wife to know that he's nervous about having sex
Speaker 1: with her or has any sort of anxiety about their relationship. Fine,
Speaker 1: you could read it that way, but that's less fun.
Speaker 1: In another letter that Lincoln wrote a few days later,
Speaker 1: In this letter, again it seems that Speed is nervous
Speaker 1: about consummating his marriage with Fanny.
Speaker 2: But then there's this odd passage in this letter.
Speaker 1: Lincoln says, you say that something indescribably horrible and alarming
Speaker 1: still haunts you. You will not say that three months
Speaker 1: from now I will venture when your nerves once get steady,
Speaker 1: now the whole trouble will be over forever. Nor should
Speaker 1: you become impatient at there being even very slow and
Speaker 1: becoming steady again. You say you much fear that that
Speaker 1: elysium of which you have dreamed so much is never
Speaker 1: to be realized. Well, if it shall not, I dare
Speaker 1: swear it will not be the fault of her, who
Speaker 1: is now your wife. I now have no doubt it
Speaker 1: is the peculiar misfortune of both you and me to
Speaker 1: dream dreams of elysium fun exceeding all that anything earthly
Speaker 1: can realize. So what is this elysium? Is it just
Speaker 1: like butt sex Island? And then again, I guess you
Speaker 1: know you could say this again because Lincoln maybe didn't
Speaker 1: want Fanny to see them talking about being nervous about
Speaker 1: having sex. So again Lincoln's like, I write another letter
Speaker 1: inclosing this, which you can show her if she desires it.
Speaker 1: I do this because she would think, strangely, perhaps should
Speaker 1: you tell her that you receive no letters from me,
Speaker 1: or telling her you do should refuse to let her
Speaker 1: see them. I close this, entertaining the confident hope that
Speaker 1: every successive letter I shall have from you, which I
Speaker 1: hear pray may not be few nor far between, may
Speaker 1: show you possessing a more steady hand and cheerful heart
Speaker 1: than the last preceding it.
Speaker 2: As ever, your friend, Lincoln.
Speaker 1: Then it seems that Joshua Speed wrote Abraham Lincoln a
Speaker 1: letter that was like, Hey, me and Fanny, we finally boned.
Speaker 1: And this letter that Lincoln writes is the most yearning,
Speaker 1: sad letter I have seen. He says, dear speed your
Speaker 1: letter announcing that Miss Fanny and you are no more twained.
Speaker 1: But one flesh reached me this morning. I have no
Speaker 1: way of telling you how much happiness I wish you both,
Speaker 1: though I believe you both can conceive it. I feel
Speaker 1: somewhat jealous of both of you. Now you will be
Speaker 1: so exclusively concerned for one another that I shall be
Speaker 1: forgotten entirely. My acquaintance with Miss Fanny was too short
Speaker 1: for me to reasonably hope to long be remembered by her,
Speaker 1: and still I am sure I shall not forget her soon.
Speaker 1: I regret to learn that you have resolved to not
Speaker 1: return to Illinois. I shall be very lonesome without you,
Speaker 1: how miserably things seem to be arranged.
Speaker 2: In this world.
Speaker 1: If we had no friends, we have no pleasure, and
Speaker 1: if we have them, we are sure to lose them
Speaker 1: and be doubly pained by the loss. I did hope
Speaker 1: she and you would make your home here, but I
Speaker 1: own I have no right to insist you owe obligations
Speaker 1: to her ten thousand times more sacred than any you
Speaker 1: can owe to others. And in that light, let them
Speaker 1: be respected and observed. It is natural that she should
Speaker 1: desire to remain with her relatives and friends. As to friends, however,
Speaker 1: she could not need them anywhere. She would have them
Speaker 1: in abundance.
Speaker 2: Here.
Speaker 1: Write me often and believe me yours forever. Lincoln Oof
Speaker 1: so hard to read.
Speaker 2: It's so sad.
Speaker 1: Don't forget me now that you're getting pussy. Lincoln and
Speaker 1: Speed remain friends for the rest of their lives. I mean,
Speaker 1: I guess the rest of Abraham Lincoln's life, because we
Speaker 1: all know what happened to him.
Speaker 2: Speed, on the.
Speaker 1: Other hand, he became a politician in Kentucky, part of
Speaker 1: the Kentucky State Representatives. After Lincoln was assassed, Speed organized
Speaker 1: the memorial service for him.
Speaker 2: Then he also.
Speaker 1: Collected money to erect a monument in Springfield to honor him,
Speaker 1: and then Speed he died in eighteen eighty two.
Speaker 2: So gay or nay? What do we think? Guys? What
Speaker 2: are we thinking? Because yeah, c A Trip wrote that book.
Speaker 1: But the thing is that there is this other guy
Speaker 1: who was a gay activist who said for years that
Speaker 1: he had uncovered some secret diaries that had belonged to
Speaker 1: Joshua Speed that had been found under the floorboards of
Speaker 1: Speed's old store, and he was like, yeah, in these diaries,
Speaker 1: it proves that they had a gay relationship. But the
Speaker 1: thing is this guy he never published them and then
Speaker 1: he died.
Speaker 2: And people were like, where are the freaking diaries? I
Speaker 2: think maybe this was just a hoax.
Speaker 1: So gay or nay, I personally am a bisexual supremacist
Speaker 1: and believe that everyone is actually bisexual. So yeah, you
Speaker 1: could use the historical facts to be like, look, Abraham
Speaker 1: Lincoln was straight, or you can rearrange them somehow and
Speaker 1: do what Ca Tripp did and just say he's gay.
Speaker 1: Either way, it doesn't matter because actually he was bisexual
Speaker 1: like us all. As always, American Filth teaches us a lesson,
Speaker 1: and I think the lesson for today is that if
Speaker 1: you're a man and you don't want people to think
Speaker 1: you're gay, don't sleep in the same bed as another
Speaker 1: man for four years.
Speaker 2: Fair few of the credits.
Speaker 1: American Filth is a production of School of Humans and
Speaker 1: iHeart Podcast. This episode was written, hosted, sound designed, mixed,
Speaker 1: mastered by me Gabby Watts. Our senior producer is Amelia Brock.
Speaker 1: Our executive producers A Virginia Prescott, Elsie Crowley and Brandon
Speaker 1: Barr And let's not forget about the amazing theme song
Speaker 1: written by me and Jesse Niswanger. You can follow along
Speaker 1: with the pod on Instagram at American Field Pod. Also,
Speaker 1: please like, subscribe, review, hit some buttons, get that algorithm working.
Speaker 1: I'll talk at you next time. We got some more
Speaker 1: headfellows bedfellows. We will continue our historical outing
Speaker 2: School of Humans.